Tigermike 3,046 Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 “My understanding is that Senator Obama said he would (take public financing) and that now he’s saying he won’t… Actions speak louder than words. No matter how beautiful the words are and how well presented, you’ve got to get beyond the words. And now we’re seeing how the words don’t even mean what we thought they meant … So I think it raises some serious questions about what it is he stands for.†* “Congress must pass public financing to make our elections fair make our elections fair .†* “Barack Obama chose winning over his word… “And with that, the first-term Illinois senator tarnished his carefully honed image as a different kind of politician  one who means what he says and says what he means  while undercutting his call for ‘a new kind of politics.’… “So much for being a straight shooter.†Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasTiger 12,988 Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 McCain is an incredibly dishonest fraud. He's just whining b/c this will make it tougher for Obama to be swiftboated. Nobody has ever abused the system more than John McCain. He wrote the rules, insisted others follow them, and then he broke them: The nation's top federal election official told Sen. John McCain yesterday that he cannot immediately withdraw from the presidential public financing system as he had requested, a decision that threatens to dramatically restrict his spending until the general election campaign begins in the fall.... But McCain's attempts to build up his campaign coffers before a general election contest appeared to be threatened by the stern warning yesterday from Federal Election Commission Chairman David M. Mason, a Republican. Mason notified McCain that the commission had not granted his Feb. 6 request to withdraw from the presidential public financing system. The implications of that could be dramatic. Last year, when McCain's campaign was starved for cash, he applied to join the financing system to gain access to millions of dollars in federal matching money. He was also permitted to use his FEC certification to bypass the time-consuming process of gathering signatures to get his name on the ballot in several states, including Ohio. By signing up for matching money, McCain agreed to adhere to strict state-by-state spending limits and an overall limit on spending of $54 million for the primary season, which lasts until the party's nominating convention in September. The general election has a separate public financing arrangement. But after McCain won a series of early contests and the campaign found its financial footing, his lawyer wrote to the FEC requesting to back out of the program -- which is permitted for candidates who have not yet received any federal money and who have not used the promise of federal funding as collateral for borrowing money. Mason's letter raises two issues as the basis for his position. One is that the six-member commission lacks a quorum, with four vacancies because of a Senate deadlock over President Bush's nominees for the seats. Mason said the FEC would need to vote on McCain's request to leave the system, which is not possible without a quorum. Until that can happen, the candidate will have to remain within the system, he said. The second issue is more complicated. It involves a $1 million loan McCain obtained from a Bethesda bank in January. The bank was worried about his ability to repay the loan if he exited the federal financing program and started to lose in the primary race. McCain promised the bank that, if that happened, he would reapply for matching money and offer those as collateral for the loan. While McCain's aides have argued that the campaign was careful to make sure that they technically complied with the rules, Mason indicated that the question needs further FEC review. If the FEC refuses McCain's request to leave the system, his campaign could be bound by a potentially debilitating spending limit until he formally accepts his party's nomination. His campaign has already spent $49 million, federal reports show. Knowingly violating the spending limit is a criminal offense that could put McCain at risk of stiff fines and up to five years in prison. "If in fact he is stuck with these spending limits, it would be a serious limitation on what he can do," said Rick Hasen, an election law expert at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. Finance experts compared the situation to the massive imbalance faced by Republican presidential nominee Robert J. Dole in 1996, when he was forced to contend with spending limits while his opponent, President Bill Clinton, was not. Trevor Potter, a former FEC chairman who is McCain's top lawyer, immediately disputed the assertions in Mason's letter, saying McCain has a constitutional right to exit the federal program. He also dismissed the letter as unenforceable because the FEC lacks a quorum to resolve the dispute. "We believe that Senator McCain had a clear legal right to withdraw from the primary matching fund system, and he has done so," Potter told the Associated Press. "No FEC action was or is required for withdrawal." Campaign finance experts were split on how serious the FEC position could become. But several agreed that the matter would not be resolved by McCain simply ignoring the letter and plowing ahead. "It's nice for Trevor Potter to say 'Buzz off,' but the campaign is going to have to respond," said Bradley Smith, a former FEC chairman. "This is serious," agreed Republican election lawyer Jan Baran. Ignoring the matter on the grounds that the FEC lacks a quorum, Baran said, "is like saying you're going to break into houses because the sheriff is out of town." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...ST2008022102994 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AURaptor 1,126 Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 Being swiftboated means to have the truth told about you. I love how Dems try to control the use of language in verbalizing the Swiftboaters and try to mislead folks into think it was a negative, false that happened. Nothing could be further from the truth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin5 20 Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 Being swiftboated means to have the truth told about you. I love how Dems try to control the use of language in verbalizing the Swiftboaters and try to mislead folks into think it was a negative, false that happened. Nothing could be further from the truth. I take it you didnt read the entire article then. Basically, everything you are accusing Obama from, McCain already did but to a greater degree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AURaptor 1,126 Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 Being swiftboated means to have the truth told about you. I love how Dems try to control the use of language in verbalizing the Swiftboaters and try to mislead folks into think it was a negative, false that happened. Nothing could be further from the truth. I take it you didnt read the entire article then. Basically, everything you are accusing Obama from, McCain already did but to a greater degree. First of all, it has nothing to do w/ any article. I was commenting on TT's use of the word 'Swiftboating' , and how the Left is attempting to hijack the meaning of what the Swiftboaters did to Kerry and turn it around to mean something bad. It wasn't. They have the right to tell their side of the story, and if that doesn't make Kerry look like the stand up, Vietnam war hero some wished he was, then so be it. Secondly, I'm not the one accusing Obama of anything here in this tread. Hope that cleared things up for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasTiger 12,988 Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Being swiftboated means to have the truth told about you. I love how Dems try to control the use of language in verbalizing the Swiftboaters and try to mislead folks into think it was a negative, false that happened. Nothing could be further from the truth. You don't respect those who serve in the military unless they agree with you politically. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06...ft-boat-battle/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnaldoabru 11 Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 Being swiftboated means to have the truth told about you. I love how Dems try to control the use of language in verbalizing the Swiftboaters and try to mislead folks into think it was a negative, false that happened. Nothing could be further from the truth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swift_Boat_Veterans_for_Truth Please read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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